


The Sword and the Spear

by Rin_the_Shadow



Category: Dororo (Anime 2019), Dororo (Stage Play)
Genre: (as in the characters are the ones doing the assuming), Ableism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assumed Character Death, Atonement - Freeform, Canon Disabled Character, Cross-Generational Friendship, Gen, Mama Jukai, Nonverbal Communication, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Prison Escape, Regret, Semiverbal Character, Stage Play-based AU, Survivor Guilt, Unlikely Friendships, demons doing demon stuff, internalized ableism, possible suicidal ideation, possible untreated PTSD, something of a lighter AU, the Banmon incident
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25566658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_the_Shadow/pseuds/Rin_the_Shadow
Summary: He had begun to think his quest to avenge his mother was nothing more than a fool's errand. And yet, he clings to any chance of fulfilling it.A Dororo AU based on the 2019 stage play.
Relationships: Dororo & Sukeroku, Hyakkimaru & Dororo, Hyakkimaru & Jukai, Saburota & Dororo, Saburota & Hyakkimaru, Saburota & Sukeroku
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	1. That Shred of Hope

When he had first come to the Asakura border, he’d been hoping to find stronger men to help him hunt the beast. He hadn’t been strong enough to stop it. The samurai from his village hadn’t been strong enough to kill it. None of the others he’d brought had been strong enough to kill it. Each time, they had been devoured by it. They had died crying, begging for their lives. Any skills they might have had, be they samurai or anything else, had quickly dwindled to nothing.

And yet. Each time, he had survived. Why? There was no reason he should have. He hadn’t had much in the way of training. He’d had even less in terms of experience. He could still remember that moment when he’d forgotten how to hold a sword. Even when he’d grabbed it, he’d only been able to flail with it. He hadn’t even gotten up.

The demon had been on top of him, so why—

Saburota snapped back to the present as he felt his nails digging into his skin. As he worked to still his breathing, he stole a glance around the cell. No one seemed to have noticed anything.

He settled himself back into that moment, feeling the slightly damp earth against his bones. There was no clinking of armor, so he must not have drawn any attention from any of the samurai guarding them. Good. They’d already dismissed him for a loon when he’d told them about the demon. Claimed they had better things to worry about than some crazy Daigo spy. Who the hell was Daigo, anyway?

But they hadn’t been impressed. And he’d been thrown in here.

In hindsight, this Daigo was probably the clan they were warring against, and it probably should have been obvious enough without him having to mouth off at anyone (or take a knee to his ribs, for that matter).

At first, he’d tried to talk to some of the other prisoners, tried to figure out how they could escape. He wasn’t imagining the demon, or his mom’s death. He _needed_ to get back to it, to stop it, to—

But that hadn’t been any use either. Most of the prisoners avoided him altogether, and once or twice, he’d even drawn threats from the guards. Keep stirring up trouble, and they’d make sure he found it. Plus a few more colorful threats he didn’t care to think about. It wasn’t like that was anything the Nue couldn’t have done to him, or like it couldn’t have done worse, but even he could figure out that would only lead to more accusations of lying or imagining the whole thing. In some ways, that was worse than the threats.

He found himself absently scratching at the scars on his chest and forced his hand to the rock beside him. It seemed he wouldn’t be avenging his mother in the end after all. If he thought harder about it, he might have found something almost poetic about it. If he’d been the poetic type.

At some point, they’d brought an older man into the cells. They’d gotten something off of him—wooden limbs, from what he saw. Naturally, they’d claimed he was trying to sell them to Daigo’s soldiers. He hadn’t protested anything they’d said, and hadn’t resisted as he was imprisoned.

There was no point in talking to someone who was already broken.

Saburota wasn’t sure anymore just how long he’d been in there. Heh. As if he’d been certain for much longer than the first few days or so. But this time, the people they brought were two kids. Because of course a pair of kids could do _so_ much to impede Asakura and spy for Daigo.

In hindsight, he probably should have been able to guess these soldiers wouldn’t have helped him. If they’d gotten it in their heads that two ratty little kids were somehow going to topple their army.

If they were really that bored, they should have at least pretended to humor him with his demon.

He hadn’t paid much attention to what the kids had said. Rather, he tried not to. One of them was crying about his village and his mother, nearly choking on his own breath as he tried to explain to the other one. Everything was gone. Everything was burned. There wasn’t anything left to do but hope they would kill him quickly so he could meet his mother in the other world.

There were some things that were too uncomfortable to listen to. Someone that young shouldn’t already be thinking that. Digging his fingers into the stone behind him, Saburota tried to shut the conversation out of his head, even as the other kid kept insisting it wasn’t true, that she _might_ still be alive. Even if he _wanted_ to snap at that kid to shut up, stop hanging onto things he didn’t know anything about—

A smack rang out and several prisoners gasped. “ _You don’t know that!”_ the kid screeched. Then he got quiet, and somehow, that was more unnerving than anything.

“My mama died in front of me, so I definitely can’t see her again,” he said. “But it’s different for you.”

This kid’s mom had fought against the samurai up until she’d died from it, and as he went on, Saburota was suddenly, painfully aware that he should never have been listening in the first place. His mind had entertained the thought of busting them out and going to look for that boy’s family, finding that one person who could beat the Nue… And those kinds of thoughts were dangerous. There was _no one_ who could beat that thing, especially when the kid hadn’t even mentioned—

“Hey, didn’t I tell you my big bro was beating monsters and getting his body back? He’ll definitely be able to get us out of here!”

Really. And why hadn’t he said that before?

But before Saburota could turn around, someone else had stood up. “Did you say…your brother was taking his body back from demons?” It was that older man from before. Suddenly, he didn’t sound so broken down.

“Yeah…” The screechy one’s voice was suddenly small and cautious. Almost completely unfitting for him.

“What is…can you tell me your brother’s name?”

“…Hyakkimaru.” Hundred demons, huh? It was almost too fitting. Probably a story that kid made up to comfort himself. He almost envied that naivety.

But the doctor sighed a great sigh of relief that almost turned into a sob at the end. “Is that so? I’m so glad…really, I am.”

And that discomfort Saburota had been feeling since they got there had returned. But the kid was suddenly revitalized, jumping up and latching onto the old man. “You know my big bro? How do you know him? Are you—”

“Oi!” Saburota almost had to fight the flinch as a guard wrenched open the gate to their cell. “Which of you pests is the noisy one?”

There was no reason to ask that. Not when he was already starting towards the kid. He caught his arm, making him hiss as he was thrown to the ground.

“Wait!” the old man cried out, holding out a hand and stepping between them. For a moment, Saburota almost expected him to fight back. But then suddenly, he had become meek, lowering his head. “It was me.”

“Stand up,” the guard said.

He had to have known what would happen if he complied. And yet, he couldn’t deny that there were worse penalties for resisting. For what felt like several minutes, he heard the guards beating the man, smacking the child at one point when he protested. Then there was a cry. The other one had thrown himself on top of him.

There was no point in trying to split the burden. Not when two of them were kids and couldn’t take the kind of beating those men could give out. Saburota knew. His hip still smarted from where he’d taken a kick at one point. If that was what it did to him…

“Next time you make noise, we’ll kill you on the spot!” the guard spat.

And then the both of them were gone. Still, the screechy one waited until their footsteps had faded before hissing, “I definitely won’t give up. I decided I won’t lose to the samurai _or_ the war—”

“Let me tell you, getting out of here won’t be easy.” It took him a moment to register that _he_ was the one who had spoken. It was just because he didn’t want that kid getting himself killed in the cell. That was all.

Then again, if they had a skilled demon slayer in their party…

“But if your story is true, then I’ll help you.” Ah, hell. He stood up, stepping over the rock he’d been leaning against. If he was going through with this, he might as well actually look at the people he was talking to. “So, how about it?”

“…I won’t lose to the samurai—”

“I wasn’t talking about that,” Saburota cut him off. Suddenly, his heart was thumping in his throat. “I meant the thing about killing the monsters.” As if they hadn’t been the ones to bring it up.

“Oh! Yeah, that’s true! Tell him!” he grinned, shaking the other boy.

“I saw it, too! He was really strong, with swords coming out of his arms!”

That much _had_ to be his imagination. Probably he was just good with a dual-wielding style or something.

“Hyakkimaru…” the older man sighed in relief once more.

Saburota also caught himself releasing a sigh, and tried to stifle it. “Then I’ll help you. But let’s sleep for now. It’s only a matter of time before they take us to Banmon.”

At least, he thought that was the case. He’d heard some mention of it, back when he’d stopped really paying attention to what anyone said. But if the soldiers thought they were spies, they were probably talking about taking them to the wall and pinning them up as warnings to any others who would try it.

And, of course, the time they’d be sleeping would give him some time to cover over the fact that he didn’t actually have a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finding that I don't particularly like finishing one story without starting on another. Particularly since I've wanted to play around with an alternate version of Saburota's story for awhile. I'd experimented a bit with doing this kind of story, but diverting from around chapter 3 of "Your Burden to Bear" in my main AU. But I think that, in the end, the AU fit better as a divergence from the stage play, since this was the Saburota I had based my misconceptions on. Though admittedly this leaves me uncertain as to what to do with Tahomaru. 
> 
> For the time being, the title is something of a working title. If I happen to think of something else that fits better at a later point, I'll probably change it, but put a note in that it used to be "The Sword and the Spear."
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	2. A Small Fraction of a Plan

The guards had been restless all morning. Something was about to happen. But with how often they came by, Saburota couldn’t risk giving the others much in the way of a plan. Not with _we’ll kill you on the spot_ still ringing in his ears. He needed to get the kids and the old man out too if he wanted to find this mystery demon slayer and avenge his mother.

In the end, he’d only been able to tell them to follow his lead and to trust him.

The guards had come for him not long after. Keeping their troublemakers separate, he supposed. Though he had to wonder just what they thought he’d be able to do with a little kid and no weapons. Sure, they actually _were_ planning an escape, but it wasn’t like they could turn around and topple Asakura’s entire army after that. Even if at this point, he was pretty sure they had it coming.

Still, he tried to keep himself hollow as the guards led him away and bound his hands. If they suspected anything, he’d probably end up dead before they even went for the others.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked.

One of the guards gave an amused half-snort. “Couldn’t you figure it out? You spies are going to Banmon.”

“They say there’s a demon guarding Daigo’s side of the wall,” the younger one added. “Eats up anyone from our side. Maybe it’s one of yours.”

Saburota resisted the urge to lunge for him. It wouldn’t do any good with his hands tied and both of them on him.

Keeping his head down, he surveyed the area. The line of the trees wasn’t too far away. At least not as far as he figured it’d be around the wall. That would give them somewhere to run.

Probably it was also better to make an escape before they tied everyone else’s hands, especially with two kids in their group.

When they ran, the guards would try to stop them. They’d need at least one sword. He’d probably have to get them directly off of their captors. How many could he get? Would it be too much to arm the kids, too?

When they’d headed back towards the cells, he saw that the guards had taken several of the others. No. That wouldn’t work. If they had everyone together…

He broke away from his guard—really, why’d they put the young one on him?—and rushed to the old man and the kids. “Get ready,” he said. “They’re taking us to Banmon.”

As if they wouldn’t already know that.

The next second, pain burst in his side as the guard struck him. He allowed himself to fall farther than normal, so they’d have to split up if they wanted to keep the whole group.

Two of them prevented the old man and one of the kids from moving, but the other kid tried to throw himself over Saburota. He almost had to laugh. His fellow troublemaker coming to his rescue.

“Quit fooling around!” The last guard advanced on them, ripping the kid off of him and roughly throwing him down. He rolled away just in time to avoid a nasty kick, curling up to make himself smaller.

He turned and aimed another blow at Saburota, and pain flared in his ribcage.

“Get up!” he growled. When Saburota didn’t comply, he started to grab him. “I said _get up!_ You—”

While he was bent down, Saburota swung his leg out, connecting with his knee. As he stumbled, Saburota pulled his sword from his sheath and twisted, cutting him between two plates of armor. He didn’t know if it would kill him, but he didn’t plan on sticking around long enough to find out. He needed to get out of the ropes first—

The guard on the other kid let go and started towards him, drawing his sword. Somewhere in there, he managed to get his ropes loose in time to parry his strike. And when he dispatched him, he might have thrown a sword to the kid. Was it his fault the old man hadn’t been ready when he’d taken a second one?

“Let’s go!” he called, running ahead of them and cutting down soldiers as he went.

Word traveled fast, it seemed. More samurai were already swarming towards them, shouting about prisoners escaping. The old man had refused to take a sword, but he quickly proved effective at dispatching their pursuers with only his arms and legs. Just who _was_ this guy?

There was a cry behind him.

“Sukeroku!” The other kid tried to turn back.

“Run, Dororo!” he shouted back. “Get out of here!”

Three swords blocked Saburota from going back, and he strained against them. Dammit! No! He couldn’t lose that kid!

“Hurry up! Don’t worry about me! I’ll definitely live to see my ma again!”

This time, Dororo turned and ran. “I’ll get my bro and be back for you! Hang in there!”

There was no doubt that his next blow killed his opponent.

Going for the trees did not seem like as good of an option anymore. Dororo had spotted something and sprinted towards it.

He himself couldn’t run too far, not with Sukeroku recaptured. Or would they kill him before he could get there?

And then there were the shouts coming from the direction of the wall. Something about demons. Yells that barely sounded human. He could almost see something glowing.

It must have been his eyes playing tricks on him.

Everything was moving too fast.

Besides, fire wasn’t blue.

The old man’s eyes suddenly widened with recognition. “Hyakkimaru!”

Or maybe there really were demons at the wall. Sure. Why not. Demon slayer big brother was here, apparently. Why not add some demons to that?

As he locked blades with yet another samurai, he almost had to laugh.

“This is one hell of a war!”

And if that wasn’t the understatement of a lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this chapter seems similar to the escape scene in "Your Burden To Bear," it's because I lifted a vast majority of that scene straight from the stage play with a few small tweaks to make up for it not being the Banmon scene.
> 
> I'm expecting this next part to be a bit of a challenge because, while I could incorporate some POV-switching in this, at this point, I don't have plans to, so I'm trying to figure out how to speculate on scenes that Saburota wasn't actually present for based on what I think he was doing in the gap of time he was mysteriously missing for. I'm kind of excited to write it!
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	3. The Wall of Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some depictions of violence in this chapter. I don't think it's more violent than the show or the play, but it is somewhat more than the previous chapter.

When they’d finally managed to thin out their pursuers, Saburota and the old man had regrouped to plan their next steps. With the added complications of Sukeroku’s recapture and Dororo’s running off, it was pretty obvious the original wasn’t going to work anymore.

“If he’s met up with Hyakkimaru, I wouldn’t worry too much about Dororo,” the doctor said, worry still obvious in his voice. “He won’t let anything get to him.”

“Still plenty to worry about with the other kid, though.” Saburota hoped he only sounded winded.

The older man’s expression darkened. “Mm. I don’t like the number of soldiers gathering, either. It’d be best to get everyone out before any serious battles erupt.”

“Then I’m going back for that kid.” If his stupid half-formed escape plan got him killed…

He nodded. “If you’ll do that, then I’ll go to retrieve my son and Dororo.”

There was something he was far more afraid of than this demon slayer getting killed. Wasn’t there?

He must have been staring, because the older man’s gaze averted. Maybe he should have taken that as a cue to back off. But somehow, it only made him more curious. Just what had happened that he was so worried?

“Be careful,” the man said, and Saburota was almost certain he had anticipated his question.

Fine, then. They needed to hurry anyway. “You, too.”

The old man still ended up going with him a little ways. At least, long enough to confirm the Asakura troops had gone ahead and were taking Sukeroku to the wall. Long enough that when they _did_ split up, Saburota felt like swallowing a ball of needles. Which wasn’t exactly a feeling he would have liked to have known, but when had that ever stopped anything?

He kept to the darkest shadows, avoiding the paths and looking for a space where he could intercept the soldiers on the way. The ones who searched for him seemed to expect him to be on the path, maybe in the branches of the trees.

Heh. As if he could have climbed without their hearing him. Maybe they would’ve learned a thing or two if they’d ever tried hunting a demon.

Still, he wished they would hurry up and leave. Or at least scatter enough that he could take one or two of them out. Shove the body somewhere it would cause some confusion. Or just take the chance to get away _without_ taking an arrow to the back the second he started running.

 _If_ they let him off that easy. At this point, he’d caused enough trouble…

There was too much happening at once. Something was going down on Daigo’s side of the wall. He couldn’t tell if there was a duel or something else.

Where was the old man? Where was Dororo? Was the demon slayer still there?

“Oi! Daigo! We’re not afraid of you _or_ of Banmon anymore! Asakura sends its regards!” Saburota snapped around just in time to see the arrows fly.

Too late.

Of course. This was what happened to everyone he partnered with.

If there was any advantage to the number of people he’d led to the demon, it was that Saburota’s legs did not give out. Maybe he could cling to some stupid hope that he’d be among the survivors.

Once the arrows stopped, he struck down the nearest man, turning and using him as a shield against the next one. Then threw the body against a third.

Somewhere in there, one of the others had attacked using a spear. Well. Wasn’t that wonderful?

“I want this,” he quipped, drawing his sword across his throat. “Trade with me?”

Not that he left him with much of a choice, Saburota thought, wrenching the spear from his hands. He parried a strike and then swung back, knocking his opponent off balance and then driving the point.

Much better.

Now, all that was left was—

“ _What the hell is that?_ ” one of the soldiers cried out.

There was a snarl behind him as a blue light lunged. Saburota ducked out of the way just in time to avoid the glowing nine-tailed fox and see it devour his adversary instead.

_Why did it always come to this?_

He didn’t see what it did to any of the others. He barely even heard their screams as he fled towards the wall and searched the lineup for that kid. If he could at least find the body, get at least _that much_ right this time…

“It’s you!” He almost hadn’t heard the voice.

The kid was wedged partway under a woman’s corpse, and he couldn’t tell if she had deliberately shielded him or not.

“Yeah…” He wished he could have said more. Instead, he leaned his spear against the wall and started working to untie Sukeroku’s bonds.

“Where’s Dororo? Were you able to find—”

The demon’s growl drowned out the rest of his question. That was probably better. He wasn’t so sure he could have answered him. A demon roaring was at least a better excuse than blood pounding in his ears.

By the time he’d undone the ropes, his hands felt numb. But he pulled Sukeroku to his feet and took up his spear.

“Let’s go…” Before that _thing_ turned its focus on them.

“We’ve gotta find Dororo and—!”

“We’ll check the other side on our way out!” What didn’t this kid get about these demons?

The troops were still in chaos as they rushed along the border. The demon surged here and there, sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other. Devouring guards on the Asakura side, grappling with something else to Daigo’s side.

Suddenly, it was in front of them, and for a split second, Saburota could’ve sworn it locked eyes with him. And then it was gone, fighting with that mysterious opponent he couldn’t quite place in the dark. Probably demon slayer big brother, if he had to guess.

Then where was Dororo?

Daigo’s soldiers weren’t nearly as disorganized as Asakura’s. At least some of it must have had to do with the demon slayer, and yet.

Something about that didn’t fit. If the demon only ate Asakura soldiers, why would Daigo hire someone to kill it?

More horses were arriving. Saburota pushed Sukeroku towards the trees. With any luck, Dororo and the old doctor would have touched base with their demon slayer and be hiding out nearby.

And with any luck, he’d quickly dispatch the demon, meet up with their group, and then they’d be on their way.

Heh. As if luck had _ever_ been on his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is, of course, one of the ones that's more of my own imagination and less of actual retold content from the play. But there is a point at which Saburota is with Jukai, they leave the stage, and then Saburota isn't seen again until after the entire Banmon scene has ended, at which point Sukeroku also shows up, and Saburota has swapped his sword for the spear he uses for the rest of the play. I don't know that the playwrights intended to imply he had gone back for him, but it seemed like it would be interesting to play around with. (Also I don't think there was anyone quite that close to Sukeroku on the wall in the play, but I liked the idea that he might survive that way and so that's what I wrote)
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	4. All That's Left is to Watch

At this point, Saburota wasn’t sure just what he’d expected, but he figured this seemed about right. Whatever that meant.

The kid was all over the place, and it was all he could do to keep _his_ kid with him. As far as he could tell, Asakura’s side was in complete chaos, and somehow in the last few minutes, Daigo’s side had gotten to where they weren’t doing much better. The demon slayer had gotten in a fight with someone from Daigo’s clan (which he guessed at least confirmed they hadn’t hired him to kill the demon? Or was this one of those things where he’d outlived his use to them?). Someone’s wife had showed up in the middle of things.

Oh. And apparently at some point, the fox demon had crashed face first into Banmon. He might have liked to have seen that part.

But it seemed that something else was happening now. As if the demon was trying to pull itself loose from the wall. Soldiers on both sides were retreating, and Saburota had to grab hold of Sukeroku’s collar to keep him from running into the middle of it.

Something was wrong. And even if he could have articulated more than that, it was almost certainly beyond anything either of them had any ability to handle.

The wall was groaning, as if the demon was struggling to escape a burning house about to drop on it. Dororo was screaming at someone to run, and Saburota almost wished he could have been amused that he could already pick out that kid’s shouting voice.

But wait. Where was the demon slayer? If the demon was bringing down the wall, then—

“ _Move!_ ” he snapped, shoving Sukeroku in the opposite direction and steering him back to where he and the doctor had split.

Just as they made it back into the trees, there was an enormous crunching sound, and he looked back just in time to see the entirety of Banmon crumbling into rubble.

What were they supposed to do now? Should they go ahead and start searching for Sukeroku’s family (if any of them had actually survived)? Wait to see if any of the others had made it out? Get away from here before the soldiers could regroup?

He surveyed the area, wishing it was just a little lighter so he could figure out what he was looking at. Why hadn’t they discussed what they would do if one of them didn’t make it out? It wasn’t even like Saburota could fault the old man for it. Not when he knew whose problem this was. It had been _his_ plan, so _he_ should have given the warning.

Suddenly, Sukeroku was up, starting to call out, and then biting it back.

In an instant, Saburota had his spear and was in front of him. But then, seconds later, he saw what the kid was looking at.

The most obvious thing was Dororo. Mostly because he’d run ahead of the others and was trying to wave them down. Next, there was the old doctor, and at first Saburota thought he was limping. But then he realized he was actually leading someone else. A boy about his age, maybe a little younger, who was keeping his hands tucked close to his body and staring out, not really looking at anything.

How interesting. Demon slayer big brother seemed almost…normal. And for a moment, he had to wonder just what he _had_ been expecting in his place.

But then there was one other person, and this one hadn’t been accounted for earlier. An old man, much older even than the doctor, and he carried a walking stick in his hand and a biwa slung over his back.

“Who’s this?” He wished he could have sounded even a little less suspicious.

The demon slayer didn’t react, but the doctor answered him. “This man is a friend of my son’s. He’s offered to take us to a place where we can recover and reorient ourselves.”

Beside him, the man grinned wryly. “Call me Biwamaru,” he said.

There was no way that was his real name. But the way things were going, it wasn’t like he was going to say no to safe shelter.

“Saburota,” he replied. “Guess I’ll follow your lead, then.”

“I suppose so,” he nodded, moving to guide them through the trees. “This way, then.”

That space turned out to be a quiet, out-of-the-way place, an old shed on top of a hill. Huh. This Biwamaru must have been pretty familiar with this place. Probably used it as a stopping point himself. Sure. That made sense. It didn’t seem like it saw that heavy of traffic, but it wasn’t falling apart in pieces the way he would’ve expected from somewhere that was abandoned. Was there someone else who used the space, too?

But again, it wasn’t like they were in any position to go looking gift horses in the mouth.

The old doctor hadn’t given his own name, but he had introduced his son as Hyakkimaru, which Saburota thought he might have remembered from their time in the prison, but it was probably proper or something to say it again when he was around to hear it.

Besides, he figured he had to stop calling him demon slayer big brother at some point. And not just because he was actually younger.

The doctor had taken Hyakkimaru, Sukeroku, and Dororo into the shed to check them for injuries and give them time to rest.

At least for the time being, Saburota had opted to remain outside. His nerves were still wound a bit too tight to sit down.

Even if that wasn’t the case, he knew if he let himself be examined, he’d end up showing a lot more than just a few bruises. And some scars just weren’t meant for other people to see. It wasn’t like he could do anything for them this long after, anyway.

So instead, he surveyed the area in front of them, the horizon as the light began filtering over it, and the trees they had come through to get here. He supposed this kind of setup would be useful against hordes of samurai, to see them coming a ways off and make an escape. Depending on what the archers were doing, of course. But against something like the Nue, this place would leave them terribly exposed. He wasn’t even sure if staying inside the shed would help them. Could it break through the door if it wanted? Squeeze itself into another form?

“Can’t sleep?” A voice beside him made him jump.

“It’s morning,” Saburota answered. “Doesn’t make a lot of sense to.”

Biwamaru’s brow furrowed, as if he was mulling it over. “Perhaps, but you’ve had a long night, haven’t you?”

Was he trying to get some kind of confession out of him? What was he even supposed to admit?

“I’ll turn in once the kids get up.” It was probably a lie, but it was at least something he would try to think about.

Biwamaru didn’t throw back his head and laugh, but somehow his smile had the same effect. “Your soul and your voice seem young, but you talk as if you were me or Jukai.” He paused, studying him with his sightless eyes. “What are you looking for?”

This was getting just a bit too weird even for Saburota’s liking. “Look, no offense, but I’ve been out of prison for maybe ten hours, if that. I think I’m allowed to be cautious.”

“Hm.” If there was something more he had to say about it, he didn’t say so out loud. “Well, I hope you won’t mind an old man joining you in keeping watch.”

What, like he’d given him a choice?

Instead of answering, Saburota turned his gaze back to the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't necessarily sure if I would give Biwamaru much of a role in this fic, but when I was rewatching parts of the play for my other fic, I rediscovered my appreciation for the stage version of the character and how directly involved he seems to be at times, particularly around Jukai and Hyakkimaru's arcs. I don't know that he and Saburota ever interact directly in the play (at least, I can't remember them speaking to each other) but since Biwa does stick around for most of the second act, I could see them interacting indirectly even if I decided to have them talk here.
> 
> The shed where the group takes shelter at the end of this chapter is lifted from the manga and PS2 game, since I wasn't sure where they were at this point in the play, but it made sense that it was something like that unless Jukai's home was somehow close enough to everything or they were camping out in the open. But I liked the idea of using the shed.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	5. Beginning the Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read this chapter at the time I originally posted it, I added about 700 words to the end. It was a scene I had originally intended for the next chapter, but which I now feel works better here.

In the end, Saburota had managed to put off going inside and resting up until Jukai had come outside and more or less forced him to. He wouldn’t make him take any medical attention he didn’t want, but he would not allow him to run himself into the ground. And if _that_ wasn’t too parental for anyone’s comfort.

Still, he’d managed to keep his composure until he’d made it inside, and from there he managed to quiet his breathing without waking the others. He found a space where he didn’t have to sit right on top of either the kids or the demon slay—Hyakkimaru. His name was Hyakkimaru.

Well. He figured he had plenty of time to memorize names. Jukai might have made him go inside, but he already knew he wouldn’t be falling asleep.

Where Dororo and Sukeroku were sprawled out, limbs all over each other like a pair of abandoned puppies, Hyakkimaru slept sitting up, so still that Saburota almost wanted to check to see if he was breathing. Except that _that_ would require him to actually move over there, and Saburota was perfectly content to keep right where he was.

From where he was sitting, he could see that his leg was made of wood and beginning to splinter. Someone had tried to patch it, and he wondered if he had done that himself, or if Biwamaru had helped him. Either way, he’d need to get that fixed before they went after the demon.

His arms seemed to be made of the same material as his leg, though they had taken much less of a beating. Around his elbows, something poked out against his sleeves. Right. Sukeroku had mentioned the swords in his arms. Sure. Why not have them actually be attached?

Overall, except for the way he’d let himself be led around earlier, he didn’t really look all that odd. (And really, where _had_ he gotten the idea that a demon slayer should stand out?) Just maybe a little young.

It almost had to be the whole getting his body back from demons thing. Just didn’t seem like a kid his age should have that much back. Not when he himself—

That was enough of that. Really. The kids said Hyakkimaru had experience killing demons. He’d as good as proven it with the fox in the wall. They’d managed to get away from Banmon and meet up. He would _probably_ agree to help him kill the other one. That was all he needed to know.

Once everyone was rested, they’d need to start looking for survivors from that village. If everything had burned and everyone was gone, it might be too much to hope for, but…

When he first woke up, he was surprised first and foremost that he had slept at all, and after that, that no one had come by and tried to rouse him. The others were still out cold. So maybe he hadn’t actually slept for very long.

Then again, didn’t kids need to sleep a lot? Maybe it was the same for demon slayers as well. Especially if Hyakkimaru was supposedly getting body parts back from the demons, too. Saburota didn’t have much experience in that area of course, but regrowing body parts sounded like something that could take a lot out of a guy.

With that thought, Saburota pushed himself to his feet and headed out.

Jukai was working on something. Maybe replacing the prosthetics that got confiscated. Absently, he wondered if those were still around somewhere. Maybe the Asakura troops had burned them. Sure, it would have been a waste of perfectly good materials, but at this point, he wasn’t sure if he’d put it past them.

Though wouldn’t that mean his tools were gone, too? Those would probably be a much bigger pain to replace. He almost hoped he’d managed to grab some on the way out. But that was all but impossible.

Biwamaru was…he didn’t see him, but somehow he didn’t think he’d left. Or at least, he didn’t think he’d gone far.

Passing his spear between his hands before returning it to rest against his shoulder, Saburota began to pace. It hadn’t even been a day, but he was already growing restless with this waiting around. If he didn't find something to do, he'd just end up thinking about the Nue and the hunting parties and _could this time actually be different?_ And he'd end up messing with his scars and drawing _someone's_ attention and really, that was not something he wanted to do today. 

Might as well head out, look around a bit, see if he could find Sukeroku’s family anywhere. Or anyone from that village really. He’d said the wall split it in half, right? If everyone on Asakura’s side had been burned (probably for being spies, he thought) maybe there was a chance someone from Daigo’s side would still be alive.

But if he hadn’t wanted to stick with them, were they anyone he wanted to leave him with?

He didn’t tell Jukai where he was going. He figured he probably _should_ have, but something about the idea made him uneasy. Maybe it was just leftover nerves from his time at Banmon, or the way he’d been unable to refuse his order to rest. It wasn’t like he could force him _not_ to go looking around. But it wasn’t exactly a theory Saburota wanted to test.

It probably wasn’t a good idea to get too close to where the wall had stood. There would probably be stragglers from whatever happened after its collapse, whether because they wanted to scavenge the area for weapons and other supplies, or because Asakura wanted to take advantage of the demon’s demise and move in. Too much risk of either not coming back at all, or having someone follow him and bringing back some uninvited guests. Even if he could count on them being Daigo’s troops, he didn’t think they’d take too kindly to his hanging around the guy who’d killed their demon, and he didn’t exactly want to test out whether, “Hey, the other guys thought I was your spy” would actually work as a valid excuse.

Either way, he wasn’t too eager to head back there.

But he could at least survey the forest they’d come through to get here. The shed hadn’t been in too bad of condition, and he didn’t _really_ think Biwamaru used it often enough to justify that. Maybe some of Sukeroku’s folks or just someone from his side of town knew about this place. Maybe they’d come back to check and see if anyone else made it out.

Heh. As if that wasn’t _way_ too much to ask.

He wasn’t able to find them in the time he had searched that afternoon. And some of that was to be expected. It wasn’t like someone hiding out would just instantly know that the soldiers on both sides had gone. But at the same time, a growing unease in the pit of his stomach told him he needed to make himself scarce for a bit.

That, and Biwamaru running into him and basically telling him as much. “Best not go reaching into a fire that’s just gone out, eh? You might end up burning yourself on the embers.”

“Where the hell did you come from?” Probably not his most courteous of greetings, but the old man only shook his head.

“I thought I’d check to see what all had changed in the time I’ve been away,” he said. “There were some caves I didn’t quite manage to get to, of course…”

As if a cave would suddenly spring up out of nowhere. But that probably wasn’t what he was saying. Really, did he think Saburota needed to have his hand held through everything? But if he was mentioning these caves, there might have been something worth checking out. “Where were they?”

 _That_ earned him a rap on the shin from Biwamaru’s walking stick. “Didn’t I just tell you not to go messing with burning embers?”

There wasn’t much argument he could make to that. Not if he wasn’t going to tell him where to go. Without a clear idea of where he should expect to find the caves, he’d just wander around until he either wore himself out or got snagged by something.

Probably not the best way to end his day. All things considered. So he let Biwamaru lead the way.

In the time he’d been away, there had apparently been some kind of argument between Jukai and Hyakkimaru. The summary the kids had given was hard to follow at best, and he got the feeling neither of them had been there for all of it or even most of it. Dororo, at least, seemed to think they had made up, and Sukeroku was willing to take his word for it.

But what was most concerning, at least from where Saburota was standing, was that they didn’t know if Jukai was going to fix Hyakkimaru’s leg or not. Didn’t he _need_ that if he was going to keep hunting demons? Sure, he might be able to hold his own against a couple of humans, or even that fox demon. But that was different.

That one didn’t have a whole slew of dead bodies _who had specifically set out to kill it_. How many had he led to it by now? A dozen? More? When had he stopped keeping count?

If he didn’t have a solid prosthetic, then _how in the hell_ did _anyone_ expect…

Saburota turned and stalked into the shed, dimly aware of the call of “Are you okay?” behind him. Really, how was he _supposed_ to answer that?

“He needs a new leg. I need him to—” He suddenly stopped, suddenly aware of the room. “You’re awake.”

Hyakkimaru gave the slightest head tilt, which he guessed was supposed to be an acknowledgment, except that he never really looked at him. In fact, he seemed completely preoccupied with the ties on a sword he held between his hands. Nearby him was Jukai, heating something over the fire pit.

Suddenly, he was aware of the blood pounding in his ears again. Which was not something he needed any of them knowing. He tried to focus on the crackling of the fire, the light clacking of wooden fingers against the sword’s sheath.

“Ah, Saburota,” Jukai’s voice had a restrained, almost watery edge. “Is something wrong?”

 _Is there ever not?_ he wanted to answer. But instead, he only shook his head, swallowing to remind himself to close his mouth.

Jukai stirred the pot of whatever was on the fire (probably gruel, but better than nothing). “I believe you and Hyakkimaru were introduced early this morning.”

Probably an indication that he wanted them to talk. Hyakkimaru only nodded, continuing whatever he was trying to do to the hilt.

“So, Hyakkimaru, I hear you’ve killed a lot of demons.” Probably not his most eloquent of conversation starters, but who was keeping track?

Besides, if Hyakkimaru minded, he didn’t show it. He just nodded again.

At the same time, he almost wished he’d give him a little more to work with. What did a demon slayer talk about besides demons? “How many?”

There was a flinch from Jukai which he almost missed, but which made Hyakkimaru pause for a moment. Then he was half-mumbling, half just-kind-of-mouthing something. His brows lowered and he realized he might actually have been trying to count them.

With a long-suffering sigh, he said, “ _Too many_.”

His voice sounded like it was almost painful to use, yet Saburota felt almost a surge of giddiness at his response. _That many_ demons? Then maybe he really did have a fighting chance!

“So’s that how you ended up at Banmon? Going after demons?”

By this point, Jukai looked distinctly uncomfortable, but said nothing. Hyakkimaru was now watching him instead of the sword, but he nodded anyway.

“Me too,” Saburota said in spite of the spiking nausea that threatened to come up with it. Huh. Why was he feeling that now?

Unfortunately, that caught both their attention, and he realized too late that he’d been digging at his scars again. Neither of them outright tried to come over to him, but he saw Jukai’s concerned gaze dart to his hand.

Hastily, he pulled the folds of his kimono over it. He didn’t _need_ anyone to look at it. He _didn’t_. The scars were old. There wasn’t anything that could be done for them. But already, he could see that near-parental look from before.

“Hyakkimaru,” he said, “would you—”

He was cut off by the bubbling over of the gruel. But despite his attention shifting to it, the look he shot Saburota made it clear he wouldn’t be escaping that easily. As if this was escaping easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm admittedly not entirely sure why I keep dragging this out. I'll go ahead and blame the Kaname AU, since that's when I started noticing it becoming a thing I did with my writing. But at the same time, some of the relationships are playing out a bit differently than I'd intended when I started writing (blame stage Biwamaru) and so I find myself wanting to explore them a bit more.
> 
> Edit: Yeah I just realized I forgot to put a chapter title on this one. That's been fixed now.
> 
> Second Edit: After posting this, I changed my mind on how I liked some events being grouped. The original way the following chapters would have been grouped in my original posting was not one I particularly liked, and cramped up some stuff with Sukeroku's interactions. The part I added felt enough like it was connected to this event that I think right now, at least, I prefer it this way.
> 
> Hyakkimaru has fewer spoken lines in the stage play compared to the anime, and while I do think some of it is related to his conceptualizing thoughts in a way that isn't words and struggling to translate, there are times it almost sounds like it is physically hard for him to do. But I did still want to have him throw in a joke here and there.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


	6. Sort-of Calculated Risks

The next day or so was more of the same. Most of their focus was on making sure they had resources to make it through the day (which Saburota busied himself with to prevent Jukai from pressing about the scars), making sure everyone was healing as they should be, and slowly expanding their scouting radius.

At some point, Biwamaru would inevitably wind up disappearing, sometimes for a long while and sometimes for a shorter one, and he would return later with some kind of report. Once or twice, Hyakkimaru had tried to go with him, only to be met with a protest that he wasn’t ready for what was out there.

“Might want to let Jukai finish patching that leg first, eh?” he said with a light tap to Hyakkimaru’s splintering calf. “What’s out there…you’ll end up finding it soon enough.”

Which of course, did absolutely nothing for Saburota’s nerves.

Though, speaking of the leg, that was another thing. Whatever had happened when he was away, Jukai had decided to start repairing the broken prosthetic. He hadn't understood much of what Hyakkimaru had said about it, and Jukai's explanation had amounted to more or less that there were some fears he'd been holding too tightly, which were not as pressing as he'd feared. Which was fine. Sure. Whatever it was, it was probably something personal, and Saburota wasn't entirely opposed to letting them have their privacy. Even if that meant he had no idea what was going on.

Without Jukai's tools, however, building a new leg would be an impossible task. Even after Biwamaru had rather suspiciously recovered a chisel—he wasn’t sure if it was _his_ , and the old man refused to confirm or deny it—he had opted not to construct a completely new leg.

And a number of factors had contributed to that decision. The time it would take, for one. “I don’t want you limping longer than necessary,” Jukai had said to Hyakkimaru. They might end up needing to head out before a leg could be completed. “And besides, I don’t have anything to dull the pain. With you feeling it now…”

Admittedly, Saburota probably shouldn’t have been listening to that much of their conversations. The prosthetic would be fixed. Anything beyond that was none of his concern. 

But at the same time, he already knew that much. There was no real harm in knowing the method. Was there? Apparently, it was an old patchwork technique from when Hyakkimaru was a small boy. Something to build up support in frequently-shattered legs, at least enough to let him walk normally until he could replace them. Which hopefully meant before they hunted the Nue.

When he’d forced himself to step away, Sukeroku had met him. At first, he’d just trailed along after him, and Saburota was tempted to ask where Dororo was and why he wasn’t with him instead. But then Sukeroku had asked, “Do you really think she’s still out there somewhere? My ma, I mean.”

“The wall’s been down a few days. She’s probably waiting to make sure the soldiers are all cleared out.” Just when had this kid started following him around? Weirder still was that Saburota found he didn’t mind it. “That kid’s not wrong,” he continued. “If you haven’t seen her corpse, she could still be alive.”

Suddenly, Sukeroku was right in front of him, studying him, narrowing his eyes as if searching for any sign that he was lying. He wasn’t. Not really. Even if he didn’t think it was all that likely, it wasn’t impossible. After all, demon slayer big brother had turned out to be an actual person with a name who also had swords for arms. What was some kid’s ma surviving Banmon compared to that?

“You really think so?” There was something so very hopeful, so desperate for it to be true that even if he _hadn’t_ thought so, Saburota would have had to have been a horrifically cruel person to dash that hope.

“Yeah.” Saburota felt a smile tugging at the corner of his lip, and he almost reached out to ruffle the kid’s hair. “You know, there’s supposed to be some caves somewhere around here. Maybe your ma’s hiding in one of them.”

Sukeroku shot him a skeptical look.

Really? There was a guy running around with swords in his hands, and a giant demon living in a wall, but _th_ _at_ was the one thing he’d decided was too much? “Look, I’m just saying Biwamaru seemed to think she could be.”

That skeptical look began to unwind itself. “Really? He said that?”

“Well no, but he still implied it.” Why else would he mention that stuff about burning embers? “I’m planning to check out that area sometime soon.”

If the kid would head back to where Jukai, Dororo, and Hyakkimaru were, where he would be out of danger, he was planning to head out right then.

“I’ll come with you,” he volunteered.

Absolutely not. There was no way he was going to put him in that kind of danger. Especially not when Sukeroku’s family might not even be there. If he didn’t want to have more blood on his hands, he was going to have to start being more responsible about this kind of thing.

“Sure, kid.” Or he could just throw all better judgment to the wind. That worked, too.

Maybe if everything went to complete crap, Biwamaru would get to them in time to save the kid. Didn’t he say something at some point about people finding trouble and that drawing him? Or did that only apply to Hyakkimaru because of something around all that supernatural stuff surrounding him? Now that he thought about it, had he actually even said that, or had Saburota imagined it in some sleep-deprived state?

Either way, he thought, Biwamaru _did_ have a tendency to show up whenever he was about to do something dangerous. That probably wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

“Let’s go, then.” He’d still make sure Sukeroku stayed in his line of sight. Just in case.

To his surprise, Biwamaru didn’t turn up the very second they had set out. Eh. Maybe there was a delay or something, and he wouldn't show up until they actually managed to get themselves into trouble.

But for a majority of their journey, it was quiet. There were a few areas where they got themselves turned around and had to reorient themselves, but that was to be expected. Sukeroku didn’t have much to say, but that may have been at least partially because anytime his questions had anything to do with his family, Saburota had deflected them. _I don’t remember_ and _I don’t want to remember_ would have sufficed for most of them, and that wasn’t really a thought Saburota wanted to put in that kid’s head.

The caves had been easier to find than Saburota had expected, and that was more than enough to put him on edge. If they weren’t that hard to reach, then that meant Biwamaru must have had a very good reason to have avoided them. There wouldn’t still be samurai prowling around, would there?

And for that matter, if the samurai could have reached the caves, did that leave any chance at all for Sukeroku’s ma to have survived?

The first cave was strangely narrow, not low enough to force them to crawl, but enough that they had to stoop—or at least, Saburota did. “Never thought you’d be glad to be so short, huh kid?”

As soon as he’d said it, he knew it was making far too light of their situation. If something in here decided to attack, he wasn’t in a good position to defend them. He shouldn’t have brought the kid along.

His foot brushed against something, and Saburota shifted his spear so he could use his hands to feel along it. Whatever it was, most of it was wood, but nearby there were some things that were made of metal. Something in all that was somewhat like a box. It was too haphazard to be used by the samurai, and besides that, if they’d been using the space as storage, they probably would have wanted to keep the stuff closer to them. At least, if they were Asakura samurai. He’d spent enough time with them that he thought he could say that much. And if they were Daigo’s, he figured they probably would’ve left a demon or something to guard them.

But the supplies almost had to have come from Banmon.

“We need to get out of here.” He turned, pushing Sukeroku back, trying to ignore the alarm spiking in his skull.

“What?”

“Now. _Hurry_.” This time, Sukeroku stumbled and turned to scramble out.

It wasn’t demons. Not as far as he knew, anyway. But it wasn’t like he wanted to deal with scavengers, either. People who would know this area and would know to leverage the kid against him. If it was either of those factors by themselves, he could have figured out some way of getting around it.

But like this, well, there were some odds even he didn’t want to bet on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten this fic, I promise! (I haven't forgotten the others either, but the Nui fic is a little slower-going because it's post-series and post-series is often harder for me to do.) 
> 
> Part of the reason this chapter has been somewhat delayed was because I didn't like the original draft and wanted to expand some things to allow for more interactions with Sukeroku. He played a pretty big role in the first four chapters, so I felt it was important to finish that arc before shifting gears to go after the Nue.
> 
> And with several of my fanfics lately, I'm coming off of retelling something that happened in the stage play or anime (or both) and back into doing semi-original filler. The other main reason is because I'm starting to butt into the challenges of writing a single-POV fic wherein some important events happen off-page, like Jukai and Hyakkimaru's reconciliation a.k.a. the stage play version of the "you're mama" scene, and it's maybe a bit late to try an introduce either Hyakkimaru or Jukai as a second POV character.
> 
> This Saburota has occasionally proved difficult to get my mind around, at least in part because I'm working strictly off of his stage play characterization (or at least the person we were led to believe he was for most of act two) and that makes it to where I can't really rely on the anime or PS2 versions of the character to help with his characterization, and can only use bits and pieces of the manga version. He's still quite enjoyable to write even if I'm slightly kicking myself for making this fic a single-POV-character fic.
> 
> It's a little choppy right now, but I'm looking at how to maybe work that out in the next few chapters. I have outlined where I want this to go in my document, so it should help with that a bit.
> 
> In any event, please let me know what you think!  
> ~Rin


End file.
